We're back with another OLED monitor burn-in update! After 15 months of heavy static use on our MSI 4K QD-OLED, it's time to check how the display is holding up under worst-case conditions.
The OLED Burn-In Test: 15-Month Update
- Thread starter Scorpus
- Start date
WhiteLeaff
Posts: 1,050 +2,034
This problem would be more tolerable if OLED panels weren't so much more expensive than IPS ones.
Prosercunus
Posts: 366 +301
I have the Alienware Ultrawide OLED 32" for 2 years now. No burn-in, just use the normal pixel refresh and shift features, and my monitor goes to sleep if I walk away from my desk for a minute. No other precautions.
Plenty of static split screen usages and gaming usage. I am using it for the intended purpose, not something you want to buy if you have code or what not sitting on your screen, statically, for hours at a time.
Plenty of static split screen usages and gaming usage. I am using it for the intended purpose, not something you want to buy if you have code or what not sitting on your screen, statically, for hours at a time.
godrilla
Posts: 2,308 +1,731
5 years later my CX 48 inches still going strong.
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BlackyNoir
Posts: 44 +135
I'm using my monitor for longer than Tim is. Despite his warnings, this is absolutely not an outrage usecase:
- Lots of people use the same computer, and monitor, for work AND play, leading to lots of hours.
- Leaving it unattended regularly enough and long enough to let it trigger self cleaning is not a reasonable ask.
- Automatic brightness adjustment is a pain on a monitor.
- The disappearing Windows taskbar is also a pain, being slow and needing windows to readjust, and back and forth and back and forth again.
- The screensaver could easily be added and isn't a problem, but for almost constant use it wouldn't trigger that often, just a few times a day and maybe for longer for lunch breaks, ok.
I have been using CRT, TN and IPS monitors for over 45 years, I never saw degradation as fast and as strong as this. Even on bargain bin cheap CRT.
OLED might be fine for a TV used as a TV, but for a monitor this is really bad. I expect my monitor to last at least 10 years without an issue, like those in the past; and for over 1K€ I expect stellar quality all this time.
If those big 4K 240Hz OLED monitors were say 2 or 300€ that would be one thing, buy one every 3 or 4 years to get all the benefits of OLED, maybe. An ecological nightmare, but ok. But at this price? Come on.
And all manufacturers know this. Since all their warranties are quite small. In my country there's a 2 years legal coverage, so in fact and in practice the vast majority of OLED monitors have no actual warranties over the legal minimum. Should tell us all we need to know about manufacturers confidence in their products.
- Lots of people use the same computer, and monitor, for work AND play, leading to lots of hours.
- Leaving it unattended regularly enough and long enough to let it trigger self cleaning is not a reasonable ask.
- Automatic brightness adjustment is a pain on a monitor.
- The disappearing Windows taskbar is also a pain, being slow and needing windows to readjust, and back and forth and back and forth again.
- The screensaver could easily be added and isn't a problem, but for almost constant use it wouldn't trigger that often, just a few times a day and maybe for longer for lunch breaks, ok.
I have been using CRT, TN and IPS monitors for over 45 years, I never saw degradation as fast and as strong as this. Even on bargain bin cheap CRT.
OLED might be fine for a TV used as a TV, but for a monitor this is really bad. I expect my monitor to last at least 10 years without an issue, like those in the past; and for over 1K€ I expect stellar quality all this time.
If those big 4K 240Hz OLED monitors were say 2 or 300€ that would be one thing, buy one every 3 or 4 years to get all the benefits of OLED, maybe. An ecological nightmare, but ok. But at this price? Come on.
And all manufacturers know this. Since all their warranties are quite small. In my country there's a 2 years legal coverage, so in fact and in practice the vast majority of OLED monitors have no actual warranties over the legal minimum. Should tell us all we need to know about manufacturers confidence in their products.
Still planning on getting an OLED for my gaming monitor. I'll continue using my IPS for productivity, web browser, etc. I have an OLED tv already and haven't noticed any burn in within the last 2 years but I'm very careful. Wallpaper kicks in within 2 mins and tv turns off after 10 mins of no activity.
yRaz
Posts: 9,257 +16,299
At this point, I'm willing to switch to OLED because they are getting close to commodity prices. I'll pay ~$200/year for an OLED. yeah, I know, e-waste an all that jazz, but it isn't like the rest of the world cares about ewaste so what is me throwing away an OLED every 4-5 years gonna do to impact that?
7 months in on a first-gen QD-OLED, typically running in HDR mode on desktop and in games. I mostly work out of the office, so my desktop monitor is maybe WFH one day a week with evening/weekend scrolling and games.
So far nothing is detectable, and I have 2.5 years left of burn-in warranty.
So far nothing is detectable, and I have 2.5 years left of burn-in warranty.
yRaz
Posts: 9,257 +16,299
No one buys cutting edge gaming hardware with a 10 year use case; wait a few years for longevity to be ironed out.
You just bought a bad fit to your use case.
p51d007
Posts: 5,158 +5,323
When we had CRT's, everyone used a screensaver to prevent the CRT from burn in.
Then, LCD's, LED's came along and a lot of people stopped using them.
Now, with OLED's I guess it's time to go back to screensavers. /sarcasm
Then, LCD's, LED's came along and a lot of people stopped using them.
Now, with OLED's I guess it's time to go back to screensavers. /sarcasm
daffy duck
Posts: 1,106 +1,013
This proves exactly what most of us knew. Current OLED tech is pathetic for productivity. When we get TANDEM panels and phosphorescent dyes we might get there. But in the interim Sony's non OLED, RGB-Led tech sounds very nice.
Until we are getting 7 year burn-in warranties I won't be touching one. IPS Black and/or mini-led is far far better choice for productivity and given you can easily get 4K 144Hz monitors they are super for gaming too.
Until we are getting 7 year burn-in warranties I won't be touching one. IPS Black and/or mini-led is far far better choice for productivity and given you can easily get 4K 144Hz monitors they are super for gaming too.
BlackyNoir
Posts: 44 +135
OLED screens have been on phones since 2000. Samsung had an OLED TV for sale in 2005. In 2010, DuPont officially stated they can produce 50in OLED TV under two minutes each.
This is far from "cutting edge".
Second, it's not how they are sold. I have zero problem with a company advertizing "ok, we got this cutting edge thing, it has practical infinite contrast and true blacks and much faster switching and real HDR, but if used too much or if used for static content like it's only going to last some months without defects, here are the details to see if this product is for you". That's fine. That's cutting edge. And not fraud. The exact same way Ferrari doesn't advertise owning one of their car make your grocery shopping trip faster.
But that's not how these monitors are advertised and sold.
Asus PG42UQ - replaced for burn in issue after 2 years (end of warranty). Standard image retention issue, in my case desktop icons showing, especially, on gray color.
Asus acknowledged issue and replaced, more or less, without major issue screen.
Damage to knob, done during transport, was not covered and I have to pay myself for it. The problem here was that I was not told up front how much it would cost, not even estimated, and initially I did declined. When I did that Asus just send not repaired device back to me without notifying that I HAVE TO agree to additional repair or device will be not touch (and that's contradiction to what their RMA repair status page was showing me, there was entry "repairing device" so I was under assumption that screen was replaced and Asus ask if I want in addition repair that knob).
Fortunately it was cheep, but entire process took 1 month. Repair itself, screen replacement, is fast and, in my case, took few days.
Basically no surprise on my end. I was expecting that after warranty I will have replace that screen or panel (hopefully for me screen crapped during warranty so I hope I will have additional 2 years usage of this display).
Side note during that month I was using 32 inch iiyama (1440p) and it is day and night difference both size and image quality wise. 32 seams small not to mention IPS bleed and bad uniformity and color accuracy. There was less of a difference switching from 27 to 32 than to 42inch but that's just natural.
Unfortunately I can't stand glossy panels and there is no much to choose from (at least at the time of my initial purchase) in this category.
Asus acknowledged issue and replaced, more or less, without major issue screen.
Damage to knob, done during transport, was not covered and I have to pay myself for it. The problem here was that I was not told up front how much it would cost, not even estimated, and initially I did declined. When I did that Asus just send not repaired device back to me without notifying that I HAVE TO agree to additional repair or device will be not touch (and that's contradiction to what their RMA repair status page was showing me, there was entry "repairing device" so I was under assumption that screen was replaced and Asus ask if I want in addition repair that knob).
Fortunately it was cheep, but entire process took 1 month. Repair itself, screen replacement, is fast and, in my case, took few days.
Basically no surprise on my end. I was expecting that after warranty I will have replace that screen or panel (hopefully for me screen crapped during warranty so I hope I will have additional 2 years usage of this display).
Side note during that month I was using 32 inch iiyama (1440p) and it is day and night difference both size and image quality wise. 32 seams small not to mention IPS bleed and bad uniformity and color accuracy. There was less of a difference switching from 27 to 32 than to 42inch but that's just natural.
Unfortunately I can't stand glossy panels and there is no much to choose from (at least at the time of my initial purchase) in this category.
You can buy many 4K 144Hz monitors. None will have the motion clarity of OLED, and none will have the perfect contrast without artifacts.
Que? Desktop brightness is perfectly adequate. I'm not sure what HDR defaults to on the desktop, but it's supremely pleasing with those dark blacks.
I never ran my IPS or VA monitors at a gazillion nits.
Obviously, OLED panels are more expensive than IPS ones right now, but that’s how it always goes, early adoption comes at a premium. As manufacturing scales up and efficiency improves, prices will drop, just like we’ve seen with LCDs, SSDs, and even high refresh rate displays.
If we want better screens with deeper blacks, faster response times, and improved longevity, investment in OLED R&D is essential. The price gap won’t last forever, but progress needs support.
Technically, great screens already exist, but companies didn't invest in them like they should have. Just look at Apple’s Retina displays, they’ve been pushing high-resolution, color-accurate screens for years, made by LG mostly, yet the broader industry has been slow to follow.
gamerk2
Posts: 1,606 +2,039
Yeah, HDR is more then just peak brightness, it's the ratio between dark and light areas. And given OLED can produce true black and LCD can't, they don't need to drive as much brightness to get the same effect.
Also, max brightness of an OLED in a dark room is absolutely blinding anyways.
User of an Alienware AW3423DW since 2nd December 2022, that's 30 months. No burn in at all.
This test is really a worse case office environment use case scenario. Using Wallpaper engine, hidden taskbar, Mystify Screensaver & dark mode etc.
Best monitor experience by far, it is an absolute joy and I can see this last 5+ years without issue.
This test is really a worse case office environment use case scenario. Using Wallpaper engine, hidden taskbar, Mystify Screensaver & dark mode etc.
Best monitor experience by far, it is an absolute joy and I can see this last 5+ years without issue.
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Captain Trips
Posts: 8 +8
I'm old school tech and CRT caught my eye. I still have a couple of old Sony tvs in excellent condition, and I understand that gamers crave them. I'm not interested in selling them, but I've seen what some are willing to pay for them. I understand the reasons why, because an old 19" Sony Trinitron still looks pretty good. I haven't experienced a Sony OLED yet, but I'm sure I won't be laying out that cash for a tv any time soon, or a monitor for that matter.
p51d007
Posts: 5,158 +5,323
I started "electronics" out of high school in the late 70's working in a tv shop. Most tv's were still vacuum tube. Went to electronics school and continued to work in the tv shop. Those old HEAVY 25" CRT's just had a warmth to them.
OLEDs will always degrade because they contain organic material.
If manufacturers were just honest with the buyers and actually told them what these "protective" measures actually did to their panels.
Sure, just like how anything with thermal paste or bearings will eventually fail.
But it doesn't mean that it's a bad tool for many use cases.
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